Bilbo

Bux astonishes us all with her breakfast choices, Strawberry Toast, Donut and Chocolate cake, guess who's on holidays? The potential of a lost opportunity last night means we're back shopping in the old town before heading out today, I instantly regret eating breakfast, I could have had more Pintxos :(

It's short one hour drive back to Bilbao, skirting back along the Pyranees, the weather is perfect, grey, misty, a drizzle or two here or there, just makes the whole thing look so much more dramatic than it already did, amazing.

We're in Bilbao and hitting up a Pintxos bar for lunch, I love this region! Since we're heading back toward Galicia today I'm trying out the "th" on the "c" - ie gAliTHia, so far I've had one guy take me for Italian and another respond in English, I don't think I'm pulling it off.

The Guggenheim is astounding. In this light, the titanium plates are taking on what Fid describes as a "Rose Gold" colour. Jeff Koons "Puppy" at the doorstep seems the final natural sign that Bux needs to assume us getting a puppy when we return home is a fait accompli, I almost agree. The current special exhibitions are Chagall and a Chinese modern art collective. The Chagall exhibition captures the girls, we last saw his work in a cathedral in Zurich I think. The Chinese exhibition is mostly political, there are a number of pieces reflecting on the 1990-2002 period. In this time Bejing won their Olympics bid and was admitted to the WTO. A number of pieces depicted it as the period that returned China to the world stage, hard not to make the parallels with Russia's current FIFA comp and their success at having Trump protest for their re-admission to the G8.

Of the art here it's the installations that most captivate us, Koor's Tulips at the back is a magnificent, as is the Buckey ball piece. But it is the Joana Vasconcelos exhibition that captures us the most - fair to say she owns the space currently. On the approach her take on the Galo de Barcelos, "Pop Galo" caught us on the approach, her "EGERIA" is filling the atrium, snaking its way through every nook, it complements the space so well it should remain beyond her exhibition.
Her saucepan stilettos had Gab in awe, whilst the bed with a blanket of contraceptive pill packets had me convinced the piece should be called "Safety Blanket" she isn't that obvious though. A Noiva, a chandelier made of tampons, is as impossible to describe the impact of as "The Call Centre" a Beretta made of telephones, magnificent! Her exhibit is the star of the museum at the moment.

The rain has set in, so no strolling the medieval town this afternoon. We head to the mall near our hotel to look for a replacement bag for Gab, no luck. She finds a place in Google so we grab a taxi and head out there. Turns out we've taken ourselves to an outlet mall, but more importantly, now 15 minutes from the city, we've just discovered that a few years ago the Spanish taxi lobbyists shut down all ride management apps, so... It's impossible to open an app and hail a taxi, def a first world prob, but f*ing annoying standing around in the rain with no other option. It's also impossible to find a taxi at this outlet centre. We're a tad geographically challenged.

Gab convinces the local petrol station guy to order us a taxi, crisis averted. The Bar in the hotel has more Pintxos and Paulaner, oh joyous days!
I drink the bar dry of Paulaner and the girls convince me it's time to try the tattoo place again, we've decided it's a wrist fleur-de-lis with yo te cielo underneath, a tribute to our wedding symbol, our week in Spain, and Bux and I riffing on Frida Kahlo for the past few months - alas we're too late for Bilbotattoo to fit me in, no tattoo today :(

July 4th, 2018Read more